Month: August 2013

I have a friend with whom I go picking from time to time. Donna loves to pick thrift shops and other places that have unreachable piles. She likes to climb, poke, dig, and discover. I don’t. I really prefer that things be obvious. At one of her favorite pile shops, a small warehouse type of place, I was done looking, but, as usual, Donna was not. So while I was waiting to help her if she tripped on something (which never happens, thankfully), I spied some very cool hardware through a space between piles.

The hardware warranted a closer look. Surprisingly, I pawed over to whatever it was that was sporting the hardware, and discovered a very 1960’s brown wood hutch, shoved into a corner, piled with things, getting dripped on by the leaky roof. So this is what happens when you get curious! It was large, and someone had already bought it months before and couldn’t fit it in his car, so he left it. The manager of the shop had shoved it out of the way in case the buyer came back, but since he didn’t, I got it for way less. Of course, I had to borrow a truck and Mr. City Girl to get it home, but it was so worth it!

It was missing its doors, but I liked it better that way. It also seemed to beg for a statement color–nothing subtle. It needed work on the veneer, and lots of filling and sanding, but it was in great condition otherwise and had fantastic hardware, far-out curves on the large drawers, and that mid-century simplicity that is so appealing. I used an intense orange, teal, and some white, making it very hip, I think:

Mr. City Girl used to be very into oldies, so when he heard the name of the piece, it reminded him of a song, hence the title of this post. This fabulous, roomy, none-too-serious hutch is available in my Etsy shop. I can see it used for shoes and sweaters in your bedroom, books in your hipster library, or traditionally, in your eclectic kitchen or dining room.

The painting is by me. The decanter is vintage Blenko, originally collected by my parents.
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This project was featured on Apartment Therapy!